Hey Guys!! It's a new year and our first new installment of the NegativeWorld podcast happens to be our last recorded from 2012. This episode, NinSage, DrFinkelstein and Davoid discuss about Nintendo gaming in 2012, the Wii U and some launch games, as well as a quick glimpse into 2013.

The holiday season was pretty hectic for all involved so we thank you for your patience. It might be a little funky to hear us talk like it's 2012, but we assure you the content is top-notch! ;)

As usual, the theme music comes from Negative World's owner and dictator, Zero. The interlude's musics are from various games(try to guess which games). Those are orchestral versions, performed by Montreal based "L'Orchestre de Jeux Video"(or "Video Game Orchestra"). Feel free to give them a "Like" on the Facebook page.

Fun podcast, guys! I would have liked for Davoid to spend more time talking about Style Savvy. I mean, it's an interesting game from Nintendo itself and finding discussion about it is a challenge. Not sure if it's a game for me, based on the demo, but I'd still want to hear about it.

Stephen, glad to hear your comments on ZombiU, I hope you have a chance to get deeper into it. The consensus in the ZombiU discussion thread has been overly positive, especially in terms of the fear factor. I finished the game and I'm amazed by how well the game makes you feel so helpless at times, it really does re-define the survival horror genre (and makes awesome use of the GamePad).

I really do think 2012 was fantastic for the 3DS; both the retail and eShop libraries are really expanding and saw the release of many fantastic games (see our GOTY results if you're not convinced) .

I loved the music by L'Orchestre de Jeux Video, I'll have to check them out!

I'm very interested in playing ZombiU one day. How does it compare to the earlier RE titles? Especially in a narrative sense. Is there a big, over-arching plot to uncover? Or is it more just "fight zombies until kill screen"? =)

-you have limited ammo and need to run away when possible to conserve that precious ammo-being able to save, rest, and manage your inventory is a welcome relief but doesn't happen very frequently

One difference is that ZombiU is in first person, and as such I feel the immersion and fear is intensified.

Now, regarding the narrative, ZombiU has an interesting story that begins to unfold through documents you find laying around as well as the people you encounter. (I really like the fact the game has a strong story even when you're playing as one of any number of different survivors). Without spoiling too much, the story centers around apocalyptic prophecies made by John Dee, an actual mathematician and astrologer who served as an adviser to Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century. There's a good Developer Diary interview video posted by IGN that discusses this briefly.

That all sounds good. Are there "characters" so to speak? I've heard the avatars you play as are rather dispensable. I know there is a guy who kinda coordinates for you, but do we even see his face? Are there other NPCs with more fleshed out backstories?